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Extending the conventional electron microscope to include an atomic source that allows chemical reactions to be carried out instead of simply observing a sample. Such is the point of the project, which won both the Business category and the public vote in the competition organised by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR). The prototype of the device, which was developed by a team from CEITEC together with Thermo Fisher Scientific, will find practical application, for example, in materials research of metals.

“We changed the microscope from a passive imaging device that allows observation of samples to one that enables monitoring of dynamic experiments. It is actually a small laboratory where oxidation and reduction reactions can be carried out and monitored in real time,” explained Miroslav Kolíbal from FME BUT, who also works as a scientific researcher at CEITEC BUT. In the TA CR ZETA project, which is intended for young scientists, he played the role of a mentor thanks to his long experience with electron microscopy.

A standard electron microscope offers much more detailed resolution than a conventional optical microscope. The observation is carried out in vacuum and it places very high demands on the surface purity of the sample. It uses negatively charged electron or positively charged ion beams to examine the sample. However, the CEITEC team was the first in the world to incorporate a third beam type – neutral hydrogen atoms – into the microscope.

“So far we have only been able to observe oxidation reactions in the microscope because the residual atmosphere in the microscope, like our atmosphere, contains oxygen. It is very difficult to monitor and examine the course of a reduction reaction under a microscope – yet it is a fundamental reaction that affects many processes in nature and industry. But we did it. We alternately introduced oxygen and atomic hydrogen generated by a separate source into the microscope. This allowed us to repeatedly oxidise and reduce the metal surface,” Kolíbal explained.

The research team conducted the reduction experiments on nickel and copper – metals used in catalysis. Therefore, one of the applications of the new invention could be to improve catalytic processes and catalysts themselves. “Until now, a microscope could only work with solids and gases. However, we did not truly know the course of a catalytic reaction, which often takes place under high pressure and temperature. Now we can watch it in real time. One of our goals is to steer away from model processes and observe catalytic reactions on the surface of real catalysts, which has not been possible so far. Understanding the mechanism of these reactions is a necessary condition for increasing their effectiveness.”

A prototype electron microscope using an atomic nucleus was developed by a team of researchers together with experts in electron microscopy from Thermo Fisher Scientific. It is now necessary to optimise the device and find other possibilities of practical application. “The invention will certainly find application in materials research – specifically in cleaning the oxidised surface of examined metals. Whenever a metallurgist wants to see what the composition of his alloy looks like, he can clean the oxidised surface directly in the microscope,” added Kolíbal. The introduction of a neutral beam of hydrogen atoms into a microscope has significant potential in many fields, not only in metallurgy and catalysis, but also, for example, in nanotechnology.